The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON -- Despite putting up shots in nearly every possession, the Dayton Bulldog girls fell to the DeSales Irish, 27-48, on Friday.

The Lady Irish put up the first two baskets but the Bulldogs fought back when junior Courtney Fuller went two-for-two on the foul line at 4:49.

The Irish responded with a three at 3:53 bringing the score to 2-7, DeSales.

The Bulldogs put up several more shots, but were unable to hit the net while the Lady Irish hit four more field goals, two-for-two and two-for-three points before the end of the first quarter.

"We didn't shoot the ball well," head coach Clayton Strong said.

At the end of the first quarter, the score stood at 2-17.

In the second quarter, junior McKayla Bickelhaupt went to the line and shot one-for-two at 7:26 and junior Jessica Tate went onefor two at the line bringing the score to 4-17.

DeSales landed another basket at 5:14 and Dayton responded with senior Samura Miller's one-fortwo on the foul line. At 4:31 Miller was subbed out because of an injury, but she resumed play in the second half.

At 2:34 remaining in the half, the Bulldogs scored their first field goal in response to DeSales' two, followed by senior Shelby Smith and Bickelhaupt's one point each on the foul line bringing the score to 10-23.

With 56.7 seconds left in the half, the audience jeered when two girls collided, one from each team, and hit the ground. Smith went to the line and shot one-for-two bringing the score to 11-25 at the half.

Returning from halftime, Strong said the girls knew they still had a chance to bring the game back.

"We were only down by 14," he said." We just wanted to come out with that mentality. But we knew we couldn't get it back in one possession."

DeSales shot the first field goal and foul point of the half, but the Bulldogs retaliated at 6:25, bringing the score to 13-28.

The teams shot back and forth until the Bulldogs called a timeout at 4:53 with a score of 15-30. Both teams shot again, the Irish with two baskets and the Bulldogs with one bringing the score to 19-34.

The Bulldogs broke away with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter and scored bringing the score to 21-36 at the end of the third quarter.

DeSales' shooting became more inconsistent in the fourth quarter, but the team went up for more shots widening their lead over Dayton. At 5:37 the Bulldogs called another timeout with a score of 22-39.

The Lady Irish struck and brought the score to 23-45 in the final minutes of the game. At 2:54 a technical foul was called on Dayton's coach Strong and DeSales hit one of the two foul shots awarded.

The Bulldogs fought tooth and nail to score in the final minutes but were only able to gain two more points.

Strong said ultimately, the Bulldogs couldn't match the physicality of the Irish.

"We're getting there," he said. "It's a process."

The team will play Tri- Cities Prep at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Dayton.

Dayton vs. DeSales

27-48

DAY 29106-27

DeS 17 8 11 12 - 48

Courtney Fuller - 7

Jessica Tate - 5

McKayla Bickelhaupt - 5

Nichole Lambert - 5

Shelby Smith - 4